Babylon 5: By Any Means Necessary

[excalibur]

Now that there's been a somewhat "no body asked for it" announcement for the creation of a Space Force, the comment about how you think it was gonna be all Call of Duty meets Wing Commander but it turns out to be more like driver thru attendant meets getting yelled at by strangers so...like any other military posting

[hammerofglass]

Now that there's been a somewhat "no body asked for it" announcement for the creation of a Space Force, the comment about how you think it was gonna be all Call of Duty meets Wing Commander but it turns out to be more like driver thru attendant meets getting yelled at by strangers so...like any other military posting

Honestly "drive thru attendant meets getting yelled at by strangers" was already redundant.

[excalibur]

Now that there's been a somewhat "no body asked for it" announcement for the creation of a Space Force, the comment about how you think it was gonna be all Call of Duty meets Wing Commander but it turns out to be more like driver thru attendant meets getting yelled at by strangers so...like any other military posting

Honestly "drive thru attendant meets getting yelled at by strangers" was already redundant.

Having worked at a drive thru once...I agree

[Cassandra]

I'm always perplexed how willing Earth Government seems to take violence as a solution for their problems.

Even without Clark, B5 humanity resembles a caricature of the mythical wild west: an honor culture with the propensity to violence turned up to eleven and intellect turned down to near-zero. Upon that foundation lies EarthGov: a hybrid of the American patriotic state and a Central American-style banana republic. Using violence is the first option because the honor of the species and the state must be defended at all costs and against all comers.

It's very strange, however, that everyone who gets assigned to B5 is so radically different from the rest of human culture. It's almost as if they know they're on a TV show and have to act like sympathetic characters.

[Durandal_1707]

I came into the show in Season 2 (had seen an S1 episode here and there, but wasn't a regular watcher), so I have always watched Season 1 episodes from that perspective and the Londo/G'Kar relationship flips so drastically between seasons, it's nice to see this small hint of what's to come. It's always helped by the fact that Jurasik and Katsulas had such great chemistry and clearly seemed to enjoy chewing scenes with their dialogue together. Here we have a rare season one moment where Londo has the power and G'Kar is behind the eight ball. We see Londo being an asshole (with good reason) and G'Kar showing the spiritual side that would become his hallmark. Here he's still "more warrior than priest", but it's there. At this point, I'm sure the original audience mostly sided with Londo, but it was a good job of drawing some sympathy from the guy who'd mainly been a villain.

Having come to the series some time after its original air date, my reaction to Londo and G'Kar during much of Season 1, but especially during this episode, was "People like these characters? They're supposed to be ambassadors, but they behave like spoiled children bickering in the back seat!"

Really appreciated it once they got past this particular phase of the writing.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

That negotiator couldn't talk a dog into pissing on a lamppost, but I love this episode.

The spiritual side of G'Kar is especially engaging for me, and I like Sinclair's Jesuit-raised reasoning on display. I guess it also shows the same character traits that enabled him to use the rules to get the workers what they wanted.

[RobbyB1982]

We see Londo being an asshole (with good reason) and G'Kar showing the spiritual side that would become his hallmark. Here he's still "more warrior than priest", but it's there. At this point, I'm sure the original audience mostly sided with Londo, but it was a good job of drawing some sympathy from the guy who'd mainly been a villain.

You know, I've lived with the show so long and seen it so many times, its impossible to go back to those early episodes and actually see G'kar as a badguy, the way he's intended to seem early on. There's nastier bits, but knowing his side of things and where he's going, that fake out switch just doesn't quite register for me anymore.

Wish I remembered how I felt when I first saw it, so many years ago.

[RobbyB1982]

It's very strange, however, that everyone who gets assigned to B5 is so radically different from the rest of human culture. It's almost as if they know they're on a TV show and have to act like sympathetic characters.

Eh, it's a little less "everyone who gets assigned" and more the handful of leads sticking with the people they trust, and earning the loyalty of those beneath them. Large chunks of the main cast have known each other for years.

Tons of no name grunts join and stay in Night Watch for instance, and there's tons and tons of crime on the station. Sheriden and Ivanava worry about how Corwin (the number 3 guy) will react when he finds out what they've been doing. And they (rightly it turns out) all work a little weird with Talia who they don't like, and ultimately end up ingoring and treating Leeta terribly. Add in Garibaldi's drinking problems and such.

Sinclair was specifically chosen by the Minbari for reasons... and on paper, Sheridan was exactly like the rest of earthgov and got assigned for that reason. That he turned out to be a good guy was a fluke.

[animalia]

This episode has become so topical lately

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Are you referring to the Disney struggle?